Recovery and functional activity of mononuclear bone marrow and peripheral blood cells after different cell isolation protocols used in clinical trials for cell therapy after acute myocardial infarction.

Aims: Clinical trials showed contradictory results in functional recovery after intracoronary infusion of autologous mononuclear (bone marrow) cells in patients with acute myocardial infarction. A recent study suggests that this might be related to the isolation protocol used. In The Netherlands, a comparable randomised multicentre trial (HEBE) was designed.